


Nomenclature

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Baby!Fic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 23:03:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7593805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of phone calls between Josh and Donna during President Bartlet's library opening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nomenclature

**Author's Note:**

> Originally started in October 2009, but never posted. It's so old I had to take out references to flip phones. *g*  
> Much thanks to Abbie for the title, because I forever suck at titles.

Josh cupped his hand around the phone, trying to block out the noise of the rapidly approaching motorcade so he could hear Donna on the other end of the line. "I've gotta go, the President's almost here."

"President Bartlet?" she asked.

Josh chuffed. "President Santos. Three years in and you still can't get it right?"

"To be fair, it is a little confusing."

"Yeah, to a five year old." The second it was out of his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"Did you just compare me to a five year old?" she asked, indignantly.

"No! No, of course not! I would never." 

The motorcade rolled to a stop and Josh squinted at it, almost thankful that it gave him an excuse to get off the phone. 

"I've really gotta go - he's here," he said, quickly hitting end.

Pulling open the door to the newly arrived limo, Josh smiled at the man inside. "Welcome, Mr. President, to the new Josiah Bartlet Presidential Library."

~~~

Donna hung up the phone and smiled ruefully at Andy. "That was Josh."

"So I presumed."

Tucking her stockinged feet beneath her as best she could, she smiled wryly. "You know, he might compare me to a five year old, but I feel more like a beached whale."

"In another few months, you'll forget all about that," Andy advised.

"And meanwhile?"

Andy clucked sympathetically. "Meanwhile, you learn to live with it and simply think about the beautiful baby you'll have at the end of it all."

~~~

"Abigail," Josh said without preamble as soon as Donna answered her phone.

"Abigail?"

"Abigail," he repeated, getting more excited by the minute. "Let's name her Abigail for Abigail Adams."

"You don't think people will think we named her Abigail for Abigail Bartlet?" Donna questioned.

"So?"

"So I don't think we should name her Abigail."

"You're unimaginative."

"What made you think of that name anyhow?"

"The President was talking about this book on President Adams and how he… I dunno, did stuff. To be honest, I wasn't really listening."

"Color me surprised."

Josh frowned into the phone. "Hey, is that any way to talk to the father of your baby?"

"If you're going to pass on those stellar listening skills? Absolutely."

~~~

"Andy thinks we should name the baby Maleficent," Donna said, winking at Andrea, who sipped at her coffee and tried valiantly not to laugh aloud.

"Andy should worry about naming her own brats," Josh grumbled.

"Yeah, I think they already took care of that. Unless you're suggesting a name change for Molly?"

"Actually, I was thinking more about Huck."

"I'll pass that on."

"You have me on speaker, don't you?"

"Hi, Josh," Andy called.

"Uh, hi, Andy. The thing about Huck was just, uh…"

She grinned at Donna, a conspiratorial smile that seemed to say, "Men are such idiots."

"Yes, Josh?" she said aloud.

"Yeah, I got nothing."

~~~

"I think you should name me Godmother," CJ told him, as she sidled up to him, champagne glass in hand.

He glanced over at her and then returned his gaze to President Bartlet, who was half-way through a rambling dissertation on some historical text. "You do know we plan on raising her Jewish, right?"

"Really? I didn't think either you or Donna were devout."

"We're not," Josh said, taking a sip of his own drink. "But Donna's got it in her head that the baby needs to know her heritage."

CJ nodded understandingly. "Donna's a smart woman."

"Yeah." Josh took another sip of champagne and glanced at her sideways. "So… Godmother? Really?"

CJ shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Besides, who else did you have in mind?"

"Well, for starters, no one, what with raising her Jewish and all."

~~~

"Joshua," Bartlet greeted, pulling Josh towards him for an embrace. "How are you?"

"Excellent, sir," Josh said, returning the embrace. "Busy. It's not easy filling Leo's shoes."

The other man's face lost some of its glow. "No, son, it's not."

"But every day it gets a little easier," he added. "CJ gave me this post-it –"

" _'What Would Leo Do_?'" Bartlet asked.

Josh looked at him curiously. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Lucky guess," he answered, smiling. "So tell me son, how is your fair wife doing?"

Josh grinned. "Good. Really good."

"Getting lots of rest? Taking care of herself?"

"As much as she can."

"It's a shame she couldn't be here."

"Yeah. The doctors didn't want… they said it was just a precaution, but because of her age…"

"Rightly so," Bartlet said, nodding. "Have they told you – is it a boy or a girl?"

Josh smiled. "Girl."

"Got a name yet?"

"I like Abigail. Donna's pushing for Eleanor."

Bartlet nodded again. "Both good, strong names. I'm partial to Abigail myself, but I'm sure you can understand why."

"Yes, sir."

He was quiet a moment, thinking. "You know, there's a special place in heaven for fathers of daughters."

"Oh?"

"You're skeptical now, but just you wait and see. They're a handful. Especially during those teenage years."

"I was thinking maybe I could chain her up in the White House basement until she's thirty."

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Bartlet said, chuckling. "I should know – I tried. Three daughters and look what happened: my oldest in the midst of a messy divorce, the middle one pregnant with her third child in as many years and my youngest – my youngest, Josh, the one I actually had a shot at! – married to that wastrel of a lawyer."

Josh smiled. "To be fair, Charlie's a pretty damned talented wastrel."

Bartlet nodded. "There is that."

~~~

"The president needs to be back for tomorrow morning," Donna reminded Josh.

"What's tomorrow morning?"

"Peter's first junior league football game."

Josh's brow crinkled. "Why are you keeping track of that? Don't you have better things to do, like, you know, planning the next book club meeting?"

"You mean planning the First Lady's initiative on early education reading? Yes," Donna replied smoothly. "But Marsi is excellent at keeping me up-to-date on the first family's personal schedule, which is obviously more than I can say for the President's current staff."

"Hey! Can I help it if Ronna is out on family leave and we have to make do with interns? And what is it with all the babies lately? Is there something in the White House water that I don't know about?"

"Yes, Josh, we devised a secret plan to fight the dwindling population sample and injected fertility hormones into the water supply so that all the women of the East and West Wings would become pregnant," Donna deadpanned.

"Hey! I don't kick you while you're down."

"You might as well. I'm the size of a soccer ball," she muttered. 

"Actually, you're more the size of… You know what? There's absolutely no good way to end that sentence."

"No, there really isn't."

"So let's get back to this water thing –"

"You're an idiot."

~~~

Josh fumbled with his phone as he stepped through the White House gate. "Hey, we're back."

"I know."

He strode through the wide double doors, heading towards his office. "You know? How the hell do you know? Wheels touched didn't touch down all that long ago and we just got back to the White House maybe 15 seconds ago. I know we've got a great view from the townhouse but –" He stopped dead in his tracks when he walked into his office and found her waiting there, leaning back comfortably in his chair, feet propped up on his desk. He pulled his phone from his ear and smiled. "You're here."

"I'm here," she confirmed, pushing end on her own phone and smiling tiredly at him.

"Watching from the window?"

"Waiting for my man."

"Your man. I like that."

"I thought you might."

"You're saying it to placate me," he guessed, as he reached over to help her from the chair.

With a small groan, she rose to her feet. "Yeah."

"You're tired. You shouldn't have waited. You should have headed home over an hour ago"

"I wanted to wait."

"Old times sake?"

"New times sake."

"C'mon, Shamu, let's get you and Nemo home."

"Isobel."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"It works." She slid her shoes on. "How was it?"

"The opening?"

She nodded.

"It was quite the collection of dignitaries," he said as he placed his hand at her back and escorted her down the hall.

"You miss them."

It was his turn to nod. "I do."

She turned and looked at him curiously. "But?"

"But not so much that I'd want to give this up."

"Me either."


End file.
